Products coated with thermosetting laminates are frequent today. They are foremost used where the demand for abrasion resistance is high, but also where resistance towards different chemicals and moisture is required. As an example of such products floors, floor beadings, table tops, work tops and wall panels can be mentioned.
The thermosetting laminate mostly consists of a number of base sheets with a decor sheet placed closest to the surface. The decor sheet can be provided with a desired decor or pattern. The most frequent patterns usually represent the image of different kinds of wood, or minerals such as marble or granite. The surface of the laminate can be provided with a structure during the laminating procedure which will make the decor more realistic. Press plates with structure or structure foils are frequently used when manufacturing such a laminate. A negative reproduction of the structure in the press plate or the foil will be imprinted into the laminate during the laminating procedure.
The structure suitably represents features characteristic for the pattern the decor represents in the laminate. The structure can be made coarse to simulate for example roughly planed stone, or smooth with randomly placed pits and micro cracks to simulate polished marble. A wood surface can for example be simulated by providing the surface with randomly placed thin oblong indentations which imitate pores. These indentations must be oriented in the direction of the growth of the simulated wood, which is indicated by the pattern of the grains, in order to make the result realistic.
It has for a long time been a great need to be able to manufacture a decorative thermosetting laminate with a decor pattern with a surface structure as life like as the decor reproduced.